Camping Out
by Lady Stars
Summary: Hatter and Hare go camping! Need I explain more?


Hello all! This is my first Adventures in Wonderland fic! Hatter/Hare slash-if you don't like it, don't read it! I really appreciate reviews, so if you would click on the review button at the bottom, that'd be great!

I do not own Adventures in Wonderland.

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Hare sat at his usual spot at the especially long tea table placed outside the Mad Hatter's oversized, yellow top hat home. He looked at a small clock by his right hand-it was 4:21. Hatter was late to his own tea party?! Hare could not believe it! He got to thinking…What if something had happened to him? What if some boxes fell no him while he was in the attic? Hare couldn't take it anymore. He leapt up.

"I'll save ya buddy!!" He cried out and barreled up the steps. The IN door opened and out walked Hatter carrying scrolls of paper in his arms. Hare ran directly in to him, as that was the door he was charging to.

Scrolls flew everywhere as the two best friends went flying through the air. "Hatter, you're alright!" Hare rejoiced. He gathered up the papers nearest to him and stood up.

"Well, of course I'm alright! What else would I be?" Hatter questioned with a laugh. He picked himself up and bent over to collect his papers.

"I-I just thought you might be hurt! You're late for your own tea party, after all." Hare explained as he thrust the papers he picked up in Hatter's arms and took his seat a the large table. Dormouse popped up out of his tea pot.

"The tea is cold now." He informed his companions.

"That's alright because I have something almost as good as tea parties!!" Hatter exclaimed. He set down the collaboration of scrolls on the tea table. Hare and Dormouse glanced at each other.

"What could be as good as tea time?" Hare asked.

"I'll tell you!" Hatter grinned. He pulled out a document and held it open. It was a wonderful drawing of a campfire, a tent, and Hatter and Hare seated on a log roasting marshmallows.

"Camping?" Hare asked flabbergasted. But that involved the outdoors, and the darkness, and the spooky things that are out at night! Why would anyone want to go camping?! When Hare asked this, Hatter pouted.

"Camping is fun! All alone out in the wilderness with your bestest, best buddy, roasting marshmallow over a fire…What could be better?" Hatter asked as he slung his arm around Hare's shoulder. Hare sighed.

"Well…when you put it that way…I'll go."

"Oh, I knew you would Hare, I knew you would!" Hatter grinned excitedly. He ran back to his hat-shaped house, ran in the OUT door, and charged out the IN door carrying two backpacks with two sleeping bags stowed on top. "I packed everything you want: your favorite bed time story, your toothbrush, your Blankie, Mr. Cuddles…"

"Hatter, you always know exactly what I'll need!" Hare smiled widely at his taller best friend. Hatter grinned back as he threw his bag onto his shoulders.

"That's why I'm your best friend!"

"Are we leaving now?" Hare asked, surprised.

"Of course! That's why I packed everything up. I even have thermoses of tea for us!" He waved them in front of Hare's nose, which twitched. "Dormouse, could you watch the house for me? Thanks," and the two best friends were on their way.

They ended up at Wonderland's Train Depot where they boarded a train and rode to Hinterland. The departed the train depot in Hinterland and hopped on a bus to take them out to a small wooden lodge.

"Hatter," Hare asked nervously, pulling on his sleeve. "Hatter, where are we?"

"You'll see when we get there! Ohh, you're gonna love it!" Hatter grinned. Hare's shoulders drooped as Hatter walked into the lodge. He shifted nervously from foot to foot as he waited for Hatter to come back. The people from Hinterland were frightening him a bit and he always felt safer when Hatter was there. Hatter returned and the tension in Hare's body disappeared. He relaxed and Hatter waved a bit of paper around excitedly.

"I have a map!" he called. "Let's get going." So Hatter and Hare set off into the woods of Hinterland.

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There was a thud as Hare landed on the forest floor for the 13th time after tripping over a jutting root. Hatter paused and turned around.

"Hare, you can lie down when we get to the site." He informed his friend. Hare picked himself up off the ground and dusted off his techno-colored suit.

"When are we going to get there, Hatter?" Hare whined. He was getting tired and his feet were sore. Hatter shook his head at his discouragement and out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.

"This is it, just over this hill!!" Hatter jumped up and down eagerly. He grabbed Hare's hand and dragged him out of the trees and up a hill. It seemed more like a mountain to Hare. Once they reached the top, Hare bent over, his hands on his knees and gasped for air.

"Look, Hare. Isn't it beautiful?" Hatter gazed out and beyond. Wheezing, Hare stood up and looked at the horizon. He drew in a sharp breath at the wonder that was before him.

From this hill, you could see over the vast Hinterland Forest into the Valley of the Mushrooms. Dazzling colors were there, various reds and blues, sharp yellows and bright greens. Delicate shades of lilac and bright colors of fuchsia contrasted. There were tall, billowing mushrooms that had the more fragile ones in their shade. The sky line was a sight to gaze at as well. Clouds led to the deep red sunset. Hare had never seen so many colors in the sky: green, violet, pink, lemon, orange, scarlet. All wonderful colors fused together to form a gorgeous twilight.

"It's magnificent," Hare breathed. He glanced over at Hatter and felt his heart skip a beat. Placing a hand on his thudding chest, he peered at his best friend again. Hatter was still captivated by the glorious sight before him. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the picturesque landscape just as Hare could not look away from Hatter. _Why does he seem so different?_ Hare wondered.

"Hare, are you alright?" Hatter's face popped up close to Hare's.

"Yahh!!" Hare leapt back. His cheeks flushed red. His heartstrings tugged and pulled his tender heart every which way as his stomach did back flips. _I know this feeling…When was the last time I felt like this?_ Hare wondered wildly as Hatter peered at him concerned.

"Maybe going camping was a bad idea. You don't look that well." Hatter observed his best friend intently. Hare flushed a deeper shade of red.

"T-Trust me, I'm fine," Hare tried to reassure Hatter. "I was just…ah…overcome by the beauty of the land. I'll be fine." He smiled to prove his lie.

"Well, alright," Hatter pursed his lips. "Let's get to the site and set up the tents."

Hare followed Hatter diligently, keeping pace with him easily. They wandered through the thick of the forest until the trees began to thin. Light came through the trees much clearer and it was easier to see where they were going-not to mention less roots for Hare to trip over.

"And here we are!" Hatter announced proudly, dropping his bag to the ground.

"Finally," groaned Hare. He placed his back pack on the ground gently and sat on top of it.

"You can't sit now! We have to put the tents up!" Hatter grabbed Hare's hand and pulled him up. A jolt shot through Hare's fingertips and sent his heart hopping like mad. Hare stared fixedly at Hatter's back as he bent over to retrieve his tent case. _How could he not feel that?_

"Aren't you going to put up your tent?" Hatter began pulling the poles out of the case along with the canvas.

"Oh, yes," Hare began to get busy and within minutes he was finished. He was tapping in the last stake when realization hit home. Hare stared horrified at Hatter, who was still trying to stick the poles together.

_How could I have not realized this? This is bad…_Hare recalled the last time he felt this way. It was in the 8th grade and her name was Suzana. The way she dressed, the way he felt when she touched him…It was all the same back then as it is now. Only this time, it's his best friend…Not only that…his crush is a man. _How did this happen?! I mean, sure he's attractive and all-wait, what am I thinking?!_ Hare shook his head wildly, trying to clear it of the thoughts that were presenting themselves. There was a loud sigh and Hare looked up.

"Hare, could you help me with this?" Hatter had the poles bent all over his arms and the canvas wrapped around his legs. Hare chuckled and stood up. After quickly untangling Hatter, he understood the problem.

"Hatter, these poles are broke and the canvas is ripped." Hare presented the evidence. Hatter put his fist to his forehead and kneaded it. Hare raised his eyebrows. "That's alright, you can sleep with me." Hatter glanced up at him. Gasping, Hare tried to correct his phrasing, "I didn't-I meant we can share-"

Laughing, Hatter interrupted, "I get it. We'll share the tent."

"Yeah," said a relieved Hare. "Now what do we do?" Hare got a particularly pleasant view as Hatter bent over to pick up his back pack. He threw it in their tent and turned back to Hare with a wide grin.

"We collect firewood so we can make s'mores!!" Hatter did a little jig before setting off to gather the firewood. Hare collected quite a bit of dry wood and dropped it at Hatter's feet. He was trying to get the fire started and wasn't having the best time.

"This didn't seem so hard when I started a fire last time." Hatter was muttering. Hare snickered as he sat beside him. Hatter glared at him. "You think you can do better?" Hatter thrust the two rocks he had at Hare. Hare looked them over and put them back on the ground. He walked over to the tent and entered it. A few moments later, he came back out. Hare sat back down and waved a box of matches, grinning mischievously.

"When you fell asleep on the train, I took the time to look though what you packed for me. Guess what was in the side pocket?" Hatter snorted and grabbed the matches from Hare, making quick work of the kindling. Soon, the fire was roaring and night was falling fast.

The duo sat side by side on a log in front of the fire holding metal wires with marshmallows speared on the end. Hare rotated his so he could brown the opposite side while Hatter sat with his marshmallow in the blue of the flames. Hare wrinkled his nose when he smelt the burning marshmallow. Hatter took it out of the fire and blew his flaming marshmallow out. He assembled his s'more quickly and ate it just as fast. Hare chuckled and flinched when Hatter sidled closer to him. He wondered if Hatter could hear his racing heart.

"This is great," Hatter slung his arm over Hare's shoulder and pulled him close. "Just us two hanging out in the great outdoors."

Hare's palms began to sweat and his heartbeat increased. "Y-Yeah," he managed to stutter out. He rested his head gently on Hatter's shoulder and sighed. "This is great," Hare repeated. They sat like that for a moment longer before Hatter gave a yawn. He stretched and his back cracked.

Standing up, Hatter said, "I'm beat. I'm going to bed." Hare followed in suit after dousing the fire. They kept their backs turned as they changed into their night clothes. Hare quickly unrolled his sleeping bag, placing his Blankie and Mr. Cuddles into the bag. Hatter was neatly tucked into his sleeping bag and Hare crept into his own.

A few hours later, Hatter was sound asleep and Hare still lay awake, his heart racing, acutely aware of man sleeping beside him. Hare glanced over at Hatter who was sleeping peacefully. _I don't think a __**small**__ kiss would wake him up…_Hare mulled the thought over. If he could just get it out of his system, he'd be fine…Hopefully…

Hare carefully and quietly unzipped his sleeping bag and crawled out of it, stopping when he reached Hatter's side. Hare rested on his elbows, gazing down at Hatter's face…his lips…Hare took a deep breath and softly pressed his mouth to Hatter's. He drew away slowly, praying that the kiss had not awakened him. Hatter's eyes were still shut. He crawled back into his sleeping bag, zipped it up, and shut his lids, hoping to fall asleep. Within minutes he was out, a small smile gracing his features.

The moment Hatter heard Hare zip his sleeping bag shut, his eyes flew open. A wide grin was on his face as he pressed his fingers to his lips. The same lips that Hare had kissed just seconds ago. He emitted a soft sigh of content. Everything was going according to his plan. Actually, the plan was ahead of schedule! Hatter was preparing to plant a smooch on Hare the next day, but here Hare already did that for him! Hatter couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring.

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Whoot! Chappie one fin! I'll go back to writing this and will update hopefully within the next two weeks! Please clicky on the review button at the bottom! Thanks for reading!


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